Dems., Seeking to Hamstring McCain, to File Public Financing Suit

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), left, autographs a photo of himself after speaking at a campaign rally April 11, 2008 in Lubbock, Tex. (Associated Press)

Updated 3:54 p.m.By Matthew Mosk
The Democratic National Committee announced today it will file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Monday to force Sen. John McCain to stay in the public financing system until he formally accepts the Republican presidential nomination in September.

The lawsuit asks the court to compel the FEC to conduct an investigation into McCain's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the public financing system, and, should the FEC continue to fail to do so, to allow the DNC to sue McCain directly for disobeying campaign finance laws.

"We believe he's breaking the law every day," said DNC Executive Director Tom McMahon on a conference call Sunday.

The complaint faces some significant hurdles. For one, the FEC is hamstrung from dealing with the complex legal issues by a shortage of commissioners -- four of six seats are vacant pending senate confirmations -- and each additional step in the suit would drag out the process. So long as it remains unresolved, McCain will be able to continue to spend above the primary limits.

Then there is the McCain campaign's argument -- crafted by the candidate's lawyer, a former FEC chairman -- that public financing is voluntary, and McCain had every right to withdraw from the system when it became clear the campaign wouldn't need federal matching money.

(None of this should be confused with a separate dispute between McCain and Barack Obama over the use of public funds in the general election. This lawsuit only questions whether McCain's flirtation with public financing in the primary went too far. )

DNC General Counsel Joe Sandler said he believes McCain's decision to backstop a critical bank loan with the promise to use public funds as collateral, if necessary, was the decision that locked McCain into the public system.

Assuming the FEC remains unable to resolve that question, Sandler said, the court will have to step in and resolve it. The soonest that could happen, Sandler said, would be sometime in June.

"It is now clear that the trial-lawyer Democrats' idea of campaigning for President is to hire lawyers and file frivolous lawsuits. It's unfortunate the DNC is now trying to drag the federal courts into their circus as well," he said in a statement. "As for the lawsuit itself, it is clearly without merit and filed only for public relations purposes. The FEC's own regulations provide that the Commission must be given 120 days to review any complaint before they may be sued in court. It has only been 49 days since the DNC's initial meritless complaint to the Commission was filed, and thus we expect this lawsuit to be thrown out at the first opportunity."

Conant also sought to tie the suit to Obama's recent controversial remarks. "Rather than attacking John McCain, the Democrats should explain Barack Obama's elitist and condescending remarks about small town America , or his apparent willingness to break his word to the American people on taking public financing should he win his Party's nomination," he said.

You people who still believe there's any difference between the Democratic and the Republican party need to turn off Fox News, get up off the couch and make a pot of good strong coffee.

McCain/Obama/Clinton -- there's no less of any evil there. They're all corrupt with their own crooked agendas. Lying, pandering, padding their bank accounts...just business as usual, folks.

The way people pick the president in this country is appalling. She's a woman, he's a black, he's a war hero. The TV told us they were going to win. What policies of theirs do you like? Uh, duhhh, not sure, but he/she/it gives great speeches and what they promise sounds pretty good.

These 3 Stooges battle it out, sling nasties at each other, while The Zombie People lie conked out on their sofas.

Meanwhile, guess what? Ron Paul is gathering delegates at the county levels. Do you really think with all his supporters and signs and individual donations he has no support? Do you really think the primary results weren't tampered with and he got so little votes as was reported by "the news"?

He has Zero debt and $6 million left. That's how he would run the country. He's even been applauded by two separate staffers at Fox Business (gasp) for his economic acumen and just by Nader today for his foreign policy.

There's a Revolution going on people, right under your noses. Too bad you're going to just sleep right through it until you wake up one day in the bread lines and FEMA camps. Say bye bye to the Middle Class, your freedom of speech and your civil liberties with any president other than Ron Paul and Say hello to Bush III -- McCain/Clinton/Obama -- your new dictator and your 100 year war.

Whether John SIDNEY McCain is senile or not, he was right on in pointing out that Barack HUSSEIN Obama committed to a general campaign restricted to public financing and suggests the Illinois senator is reneging on that promise.

"I committed to public financing; he committed to public financing," McCain told reporters Feb. 20, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. "It is not any more complicated than that. I hope he will keep his commitment to the American people."

First, some basics: When we talk about public financing, we're talking about candidates agreeing to skip private fundraising and instead run their campaigns using a pot of public money that comes from taxpayers who pay a voluntary $3 on their tax returns. The upside is that candidates don't have to spend time seeking contributions, but the downside is that their spending is limited to an amount determined by the Federal Election Commission. This year's general election limit is $84.1-million per candidate, but the spending period is limited to the two months between the nominating conventions in late August and early September, and the Nov. 4 election.

Keep in mind that $84.1-million is less money than Obama raised in January and February 2008 combined, according to campaign estimates. And, given his longshot status in early 2007, this prolific fundraising was not foreseen.

To the question of whether Obama committed to public financing as McCain asserts, we have to back up to one year ago, when the two candidates were vying to break out of a crowded candidate field. This is how we got here:

â€¢ On Feb. 1, 2007, Obama requested an opinion of the Federal Election Commission on whether he could privately raise money for the general election but reserve the right to use public financing if he returned what he had raised.

â€¢ On March 1, 2007, by a vote of 5-0, the FEC approved an advisory opinion: "Senator Obama may solicit and receive private contributions for the 2008 presidential general election without losing his eligibility to receive public funding if he receives his party's nomination for president, if he (1) deposits and maintains all private contributions designated for the general election in a separate account, (2) refrains from using these contributions for any purpose, (3) refunds the private contributions in full if he ultimately decides to receive public funds."

â€¢ The same day, McCain's campaign said he would commit to public financing. "Should John McCain win the Republican nomination, we will agree to accept public financing in the general election, if the Democratic nominee agrees to do the same," Terry Nelson, McCain's campaign manager, tells the New York Times.

â€¢ And Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton responded by saying: "If Senator Obama is the nominee, he will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

The next key development in this saga is a questionnaire sent to all presidential candidates in the fall of 2007 by the Midwest Democracy Network. McCain didn't respond, but Obama did and his answer to the question of whether he would participate in public financing was clear:

"Yes. ... In February 2007, I proposed a novel way to preserve the strength of the public financing system in the 2008 election. My plan requires both major party candidates to agree on a fundraising truce, return excess money from donors, and stay within the public financing system for the general election. ... The Federal Election Commission ruled the proposal legal, and Sen. John McCain has already pledged to accept this fundraising pledge. If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

It would appear then, from public statements, that Obama and McCain both wanted a publicly funded general election.

In the midst of this developing dispute over the general election fundraising, McCain filed a letter with the Federal Election Commission on Feb. 6, 2008, saying, "I ... am withdrawing from participation in the federal primary-election funding program." McCain was one of the few candidates to seek public money during the primaries and as such, his spending is limited through the convention in September. His campaign apparently has nearly reached the limit already.

Problem is, the FEC cannot rule on McCain's request because the six-member commission has four vacancies. Chairman David M. Mason sent a letter to McCain on Feb. 19, 2008, saying he needs four members seated to make a ruling.

Against this backdrop, the McCain-Obama dispute has grown hotter. The League of Women Voters and other reform groups wrote to Obama on Feb. 15, 2008, urging him to renew his commitment to public financing.

And Obama wrote an op-ed for USA Today, which his campaign now says is the clearest explanation of Obama's position. "I propose a meaningful agreement in good faith that results in real spending limits," Obama writes in the Feb. 20, 2008, piece. "The candidates will have to commit to discouraging cheating by their supporters; to refusing fundraising help to outside groups; and to limiting their own parties to legal forms of involvement. And the agreement may have to address the amounts that Senator McCain, the presumptive nominee of his party, will spend for the general election while the Democratic primary contest continues."

Then in a Feb. 26, 2008, debate in Cleveland, Ohio, moderators pushed Obama to explain why voters shouldn't consider his position on public financing to have changed. "What I've said is, at the point where I'm the nominee, at the point where it's appropriate, I will sit down with John McCain and make sure that we have a system that works for everybody."

Stephen Weissman, associate director for policy at the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit institute affiliated with George Washington University, says Obama is hedging his bets.

"The hedges that he's raised are very considerable because he's mentioned two things -- outside groups and pre-convention spending by McCain," Weissman said.

"I think that what's happening is someone said to Obama, 'We think we can raise $150-million or something, or $200-million, through the election and you never know what the Republican will throw at us, so be careful, don't commit yourself to this. We have a possibility here for really winning this election and restoring the Democrats.' "

Evaluating the truthfulness of McCain's statement, "I committed to public financing; (Obama) committed to public financing," it's clear that McCain committed to public financing in March 2007, and reiterated that commitment in February 2008.

It's also clear that Obama has committed to "aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." And in answering the question, "Will you participate in the presidential public financing system" on the Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire, Obama said, "Yes."

McCain is so senile, he can't remember if he is married or not; and that cutie wife with that bleached blond hair can you see her as first lady NOT; that is such a laugh; I get tickled when I read people actually think he could run our country roflmao, he walks around like a monkey in a suit. HE WILL NOT BE PRESIDENT; SO WAKE UP AMERICA. we don;t want another BUSH ADMINISTRATION, and don;t say it won't be GET REAL WAKE UP AND smell the truth. dee aka walkintall

That seems to be all the Democrats do....file lawsuits. How much taxpayer money have the wasted so far on bogus, petty, vindictive politically motivated and silly lawsuits. In addition, if they want to sue ,,,,, let them pay for it out of their own pockets. Don't they realize they, quite sanctimoniously, claimed they would solve problems, not create them? They are the epitome of the "frivolous lawsuit" mentality. On that thought, what portion of the Dems are Lawyers? That might be the reason the only thought in their heads is to sue.

Its funny that in your post you reference that only certain types of people can sit on a forum all day....besides the spammers, only you wrote more than one register in the forum...Please, give me some "sound bite" to make this look wrong:

Colorful user commentary. Sadly, very little understanding of campaign finance law. I suggest reading up on fec.gov - it can help the coherence level.

Posted by: Mike | April 13, 2008 6:59 PM

In any event, as far as the Internet is concerned, McCain has no chance;
Obama vs Clinton vs McCain -
a Web Comparison:http://newsusa.myfeedportal.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=76
Posted by: Dave | April 13, 2008 3:06 PM
In reality, polls sho McCain is ahead.http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/national.html
Those internet hits you cited Dave, don't mean much. Its the same people hitting the same Obama sites over and over and over. You know, the welfare mommas and other stay at homes who have nothing better to do.
Productive people do real work. They don't have the time to sit on front of their PC's hitting the same web sites over and over.
Posted by: Mike | April 13, 2008 6:01 PM

I used the racists scenario deal in a letter to the editor of our local paper - if Obama loses, those who did not vote for him will be forever tagged as being RACISTS.

As a reminder the only political party in this country which has a grand dragon of the KKK is the D-E-M-O-C-R-A-T party in the person of ROBERT "KKK" BYRD.

The defeatocrats are quick off the mark to point the finger at republicans as being racists, but the only reason they do it is to turn the media spotlight away from their own racism. The mainstream [aka LIBERAL] media quickly laps it up because they [the media] are fifth columnists.

First the democrat, progressive and liberal drive bys selected a rino to be the Republican runner; now they want to tell republicans how to pay for the campaign.

The drive bys hubris is astonishing.

What I dislike most is the drive bys have filled the airways for 2 years with hot air; Gore may be right about global warming; but it is not Co2; it is his political allies blowing smoke; this is damaging the environment.

The Dems whining about campaign financing...what a laugh! Between Kennedy's Dad buying him the election in 1960, Gore speed-dialing everybody in Beijing for money back in the '90s, Bill Clinton's dirty dealing's, Harry Reid's land deals, William Jefferson's major cash-producing freezer, and only God knowing where Obama's money is coming from, can they really claim the moral high ground here? Uh, I really don't think so...

It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it.

He also wrote this about bearing arms:

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

He went on to write this about population control:

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.

I'll be voting for the candidate that will continue to put out the the fires started on 9/11 and who will not remove my arms from my house as they fight corruption that permeates our cities or nation.

Obama and Hillary are part of the problem and they offer no real solutions.

Just what are the Dems so afraid of that they feel the need to "hamstring" McCain so that he is at an unfair disadvantage?

By the way, for all those claiming McCain is not keeping his promise concerning campaign funds...remember when Obama said he would stick to public funding in the general election, but then backpaddled when the money (from questionable sources if Rezko is any indication--and I believe he is) started coming in?! As someone stated in an earlier comment "goose, meet gander"! LOL

The Democrats are firing the first shots here in the financing debacle. The best defense is a good offense, and stuff.
After all, it is the donkeys that are racking up 30, 40, 60, even 100 million dollars for their campaigns.
How much of that is illegal?

From what I can gather from many of these comments, most citizens seem to love this moronic travesty of a reality TV show called "Election 2008". Clearly most of you love this sort of he said she said politics as usual. The same game plan that has, for the past 40 years led our country to a precipice that, after we all fall in, will leave most of us longing for the good 'ol days: when we were free Americans.

"the above is typical neocon strategy...thinking America is dumb, and as racist as they are....it appears that they are getting more, and more desperate with every post...more caps, more !!!, more of this kind of garbage. Guess they're getting hysterical that thier candidate, Hillary is not going to be president (nor their candidate: McCain)"

Typical Dem strategy..."You're not voting for Obama, so you must be racist!"

Trust me, buddy, if anyone's the racist, it's Obama and his preacher buddy.

And they'll be eating their words come November, and continue to do so through January, when President McCain is sworn into office.

the above is typical neocon strategy...thinking America is dumb, and as racist as they are....it appears that they are getting more, and more desperate with every post...more caps, more !!!, more of this kind of garbage. Guess they're getting hysterical that thier candidate, Hillary is not going to be president (nor their candidate: McCain)

Oh let them sue. Then when mccain is ousted, we can get an American on the republican ticket. But no matter what happens, we all, from both parties need to make certain the candidates understand that when they take the oath of office, we will NOT tolerate treason from them, or any politician any more.

Har Har Har, and this from the party which had no problem with ole Billy boy and al-Gore accepting campaign cash from foreign governments [China} during their re-election bid. Yooooo al, just where did those buddist monks get $ 300,000 to give to you when they take a vow of POVERTY?

The Democrats, in their futile attempt to select either an elitist carpetbagger whose only claim to fame was that she was a former first lady (oh, and attention hypocritical Dems: SHE VOTED FOR THE WAR IN IRAQ) or a racist muslim senator who isn't quite sure yet whether or not he wants to play by the rules, are only fueling the fire of the Republican Party. Of course McCain doesn't have quite the campaign funding that Clinton or Obama have. He doesn't need them. Every pro-Obama or pro-Clinton commercial or sound bits is, for any reasonably-thinking American, just one more reason to vote for John McCain this November.

Someone above me said that the Republicans are back. Yes. Yes we are.

Deal with it, lefties. And next time, find us a candidate that will actually play by the rules.

It's one thing to have an opinion on Obama's pledge to submit to public financing, and it is something else to suppose he simply said he would be "open" to it. That's just not true. He promised. Mr. Hope and Change gave his word.

Washington post will print anything against Republican's.That's how they make their money from Liberal's.
I can alway's sue obama for lying under oath.He did take the oath for being a senator and lying about he never taken money from oil companies,hedge funds,lobbyist.He even lied about his friends,he even lied about the statements he man on a gun ban.If the Liberal's wants a lawsuit,we should all counter suit.Personally,i don't think Obama should be in any government office.
And i do have freedom of speech to say what i want too.Washington Post printed this B.S..So i am replying.

I swear I just read that the republicans are back (comment). They are back where they were in 2006. Half of the republicans are conservatives. Half of those are not "religious right". This is the group that stayed home in 2006 (the religious right always turns out). Once again true conservatives have no candidate, and really, no party.

Once again the DNC shows that it is not for protecting Constitutional principles. Maybe if McCain could spend enough money he could make himself look as stupid as O'Bama and Hillary? Remember that's one benefit of Freedom of Speech liberal patriots should be standing up for. Liberals (aka Populists) are traitorous because they want a dictatorship that is under their control.

Why would the Democrats do this? So they can call him "The Illegal President" after the election. One has to build a good excuse if they are bound to lose.
And they really think everything is lost or will be lost.

The problem is that Americans are lazy and uninformed when it comes to politics. This country elects officials based on 30 second sound bites.

The two party system is not working. The Republican Party is supposed to be for small government and thriftiness, but they consistently run up large deficits (Reagan and Bush). Just because you outsource everything and have fewer people in government does not make it smaller if you spend 10 times more to do the same thing.

Democrats say that they are for the little guy (working poor) but do not have the balls to get anything done. Democrats are too afraid about being called "Un-Patriotic" or "Socialistic".

I agree with the other poster that we are screwed; this country is going the way of the Roman Empire. Just like the Romans who tried to rule the world their empire fell and crushed them. It may have to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Americans do not like the truth, the only candidate that told the truth was Ron Paul but his own party attempted to exclude him from their debates.

To be able to listen to the truth you have to be able to admit that you may not be the best and that you may have made some mistakes.

I just hope there are enough people in the country that think things need to change. Otherwise, we are heading towards a bad future for generations to come.

For the poster that said that greed is good I would wholeheartedly disagree, greed is what fueled the Iraq war, greed is what created the mortgage crisis, and greed is why elected officials do not govern but instead line their pockets.

More Dirty Tricks by the Democrats! That really isn't a newsworthy item, they've been lying, cheating and stealing in every election they are involved in. MCAULIFFE and DEAN make Rove look like a Choir boy.

Obama's attraction was supposed to reach independent, albeit skeptical, voters like me who see just one parade of tired politicians after the next. But then they engage in more smoke-and-mirrors fights like this claiming that McCain isn't playing fair when all he wants to do is play by the same rules Obama is playing by. Why can Obama collect all the money he wants from every special interest group, but McCain can't? Obama said he was something new - a fresh voice, the Washington outsider. I don't think so. He's just another political manipulator pretending to be someone he's not. He talks a good game, but when you peel away the facade, he's just like Clinton and McCain except that he's never written, passed, or been a major sponsor on any legislation. Bottom line, he's never actually done anything except raise a lot of money. If that's the only qualification, then let's vote the Walmart owners into the White House.

obama is more or less a populist. it's ridiculous to refer to him as elitist.

the administration's inability to grasp simple principles of justice isn't limited to treatment of these detainees.
here's my experience with federal government:
i'm framed by the intelligence community, local government, and entertainment industry. for 4 years they just threaten and commit battery, won't try any of the cases, knowing they'd have to perjure themselves.
when i figure out what's going on i file a civil suit in federal court in minneapolis, before judge frank. i'm homeless and he dismisses the case. i later acquire information that leads me to believe he knew a lot of the background and didn't bother to disclose it.

in los angeles in 2001 i file another civil suit, at least getting the benefit of some hearings. for the next 7-8 years the government and industry lie through their teeth and thousands (at least) are routinely disciplined for covering up what they did. during this time the community, true to form/its history of reprisals against whistleblowers, attacks me with energy weapons and by spiking my food, with angel dust, stimulants, detergents, poisons, and steroids, calling it community service, something i need to do to avoid prosecution. my poitical allies are way smarter than them though, and the evidence is 100% conclusive that they framed and entrapped me. nevertheless these forces, mostly republican, are preventing me from finding work apart from the intelligence community/federal government, and they're attempt to hold me accountable under the secret rules of the community, for clearly spurious/false charges.

i recently filed a summary judgment motion in that 7 year old case, testifying that they've been microwaving me for several years in an attempt to cover up their crimes--ya can find it in central district of california, case 01-4340--the community continues to microwave, threaten, even send 'dept of education' letters that coincide with insurance docs and microwave attacks, the message there being the agencies that broke the law by entrapping and framing me--it's actually a federal offense--are now trying to beat me into submission, and that ain't a metaphor--they've attacked me with microwave weaponry every day for the past 4-5 days, often training the weapon at on my forehead/top of my skull, for an hour a day.

for his part bush and his allies on the right try to control me, and my speech, by regarding me as a federal employee subject to his rules, despite everything i've said, done and written. he knows that he's wrong, that some of his friends are on the hook, and tries to make me pay by re-defining what i do for a living, calling it government service and placing me in harm's way and/or 'disciplining me'. perfect example huh? take a government whistleblower, interfere with his options, and then employee him as bait for the community to attack. what's wrong with this, of course, bush is properly a defendant, his father is properly a defendant, and he exploits the situation by trying to regard my employment as secret to keep the case out of a public courtroom.

within the last 4 months the federal government has killed two animals in my care, animals i regarded as pets. they've killed or stolen, over the years, 3-4 of my cats and poisoned a squirrel monkey that i owned.

these tactics grew into its evil maturity under reagan, were followed blindly by bush sr and clinton, and became monstrous under junior.

we may see real change under obama. the reality is, most americans do not understand the machinations of their own government, and are being harmed without even realizing what is going on.

read my case file, it's easy to access; and realize that many, many others have had similar experiences. bush and his intelligence community hit men should be jailed, and it's only by the creation of special laws favoring government employees that they're out and about, free to continue what is, by any reasonable measure, criminal behavior.

pelosi and reid and their dem minnions have neutered the fec and with only 2 members on the board they cannot legally make any legal and binding decisions, may it bite them on the behind and leave a deep red mark.

It seems to me that he is hardly "hamstrung", nor is it unfair. Why should McCain abuse the system (that he helped write), and what's so unfair about not being able to use private money until after the Republican convention (i.e. when the general election starts).

(and really, given the lack of Republican money these days, it might be a face-saving way to save some bucks)

The trial lawyers have caused costs of living rates (health, auto, home, business, you name it) to increase. Obama points his finger at Corporate leaders who make millions in Bonuses but he forgets that trial lawyers make 6 ($100,000+), 7 ($1,000,000+), and sometimes 8 ($10,000,000) figures in salary for working only several days only days or weeks of work on a lawsuit. When big business leaders make big bonuses we citizens do not feel the affects but when trial lawyers get thier big payouts they cause insurance rates and medical costs to increase substantially. Lawyers work for big money and if you do not have big money you may as well take your losses and forget about being able to afford a lawyer. It is cheaper to get a major medical operation than to hire a laywer.

We see hollywood stars let go with slaps on the wrist while ordinary people without money get sent to jail or get placed on long term probation because lawyer costs are higher than medical costs.

Here go the dems again---the DNC is reading the same polling data that everyone else is reading--both their candidates are going to lose in the General Election against McCain. The DNC can spend all the money it wants, but the truth remains that they have candidates with major flaws...
BTW this suit will be thrown out....

The Dems will probably win this one if they shop their venues correctly. The Dems have to file suit in a district where they know that a Carter or Clinton appointed Democratic judge will get the case. I'm sure their lawyeres are asute enough to shop venues properly. Since the FEC is non-functional, the judge will be in charge until McCain gets the nomination, and McCain will be SOL.

The FEC is unstaffed because GOP Senate minority leader McConnell will not allow an "Up or down vote" on the candidates put forth by each party but wants all four voted at the same time, not up or down on individual merit.

Also McCain defrauded the FEC and people of Ohio by getting on the Ohio primary ballot by agreeing to take public campaign money, thereby avoiding the requirement to collect a lot of signatures, as required by Ohio laws. Then after he got on the ballot, he said he was dropping out of the public financing program. He thus committed electoral law fraud.

All this in addition to using the participation as loan collateral, but then not participating. Straight talking John? The GOP has always called itself the law and order party, but John McCain is a flip-flopping financial and electoral fraudster. Conservatives in the GOP who have hated and distrusted him are now lining up to support him because retaining power is more important than abiding by its principles or the laws, as we have seen for many years now. Are there any honest Republicans surviving that are not hypocrites?
An independent voter

theradioavenger: When referring to someone, you should take care to spell the name correctly. Zbigniew Bryzezinski wrote, "Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower," not Zwigneg Bresinski, as you wrote. BTW, the book is available on amazon. com for $8.79 new and $3.94 used. That a far cry from the $400 to $500 you mentioned selling a copy for on ebay. Get your facts straight.

This country is screwed, probably beyond repair at this point, and you fools are still bickering over republican vs democrats when you know there isn't a difference at all. We're trapped in a two party stranglehold. Neither of the 3 candidates give a damn about us, and only want to be president so they are at the top when they sell us all down the river. You can't blame them, you have to blame yourself for falling for their left / right crap. Endless war, Endless welfare, a citizenry made up of mindless fools. Doomed America '08.

the republicans' comments above are very funny. they seem to actually believe that mccain has a chance in hell of winning. i guess they missed the records being broken left and right with regard to democratic voter turnout while republican turnout, to put it politely, has been anemic.

as a lifelong democrat, i have very much appreciated the drawn out primary as an opportunity to see all democratic candidates campaign vigorously, unlike the republicans who apparently are satisfied with settling for the default "winner" out of the original group of republican candidates. it not only enlightens the voters as to each candidate's positions but gives the candidates an opportunity to hear from the voters on a variety of issues.

please, republicans, although i too like a good laugh, i'm getting the hiccups at this point, so please stop with the funnies.

Those internet hits you cited Dave, don't mean much. Its the same people hitting the same Obama sites over and over and over. You know, the welfare mommas and other stay at homes who have nothing better to do.

Productive people do real work. They don't have the time to sit on front of their PC's hitting the same web sites over and over.

Wow - you know what? I love America too. I said it, so it's so. I don't have to prove it, just saying it's enough.

I'm also my ideal weight, in perfect shape, women find me irresistible and God drops by every day for tea. And smart! Oh boy! Just enough to impress but not enough to make people feel jealous (or call me elitist - actually, I'm smarter, but smart enough to fool everyone). In short, I'm better than anyone. And all it took was saying it. Beats actually doing it.

Those who accuse others of hating the USA just because a person does not agree with what is taking place are beyond illiterate even approaching idiocy when considering that the country was founded out of dissention . But then again , someone voted this regime in and a whole lot is said with that fact alone .

1) The Dems sure have a lot of gall, refusing to have an up/down vote on the nominees for four vacant FEC positions, then use the fact that the FEC can't act since it doesn't have enough members as an excuse to sue McCain!
2) McCain hasn't spent a dime of public money: its availability was used as collateral for a loan, no funds were dispensed at all.
3) Obama pressed McCain and other candidates to agree to public financing for the general election, and now Obama is weaseling out of the agreement he initiated.

McCain, along with fellow traitor Russ Feingold, authored the most blatantly unconstitutional piece of legislation in the history of the United States. Serves him right that his own law is coming back to bite him.

The DNC should focus on fixing the situation in Florida and Michigan. Those votes were NOT illegal - they were certified by the states and should stand. The DNC and Obama should not be allowed to BUY the presidency.

This is nothing more than an attempt by the Dems and that no-brain leader (one of) Howard Dean to distract the public from the daily cat fight between Hillary and Obama. "We need to get McCain's name in the paper in a negative way!"

Yet another wonderful example of the laws apply to all except the GOP, ironically, and irrationally, the party of "personal responsibility/accountability".

Oh well, we'll see how factors like well over 100,000 US troops in Iraq, a cratering economy, a subprime mortgage crisis, a credit crunch, and empty-scabbard rattling at Iran play with the voters on election day, no doubt these issues will carry McCain into the White House.

More likely, the GOP will suffer an even bigger political massacre this year than the Little Big Horn the party endured in 2006.

If Obama is going back on his promise to take public campaign financing, how many other things will he backtrack on? Looks like Mr. "new" politics, is just the same old same old.
Also curious as to where all this money is coming from that Senator Obama is raising month after month? Isn't he the one that keeps telling us how dire the economy is? If the economy is as bad as he claims it is, he should be ashamed to keep begging for what little hard earned money he tells us people supposedly have. Or, perhaps, the economy is not as bad as he says. Maybe it is his strategy to talk it down. Or, since a lot of the money is coming from MoveOn.org -- it is being funneled from the money guy of that nasty organization -- George Soros. After all, Democrats keep telling us that computer systems can be manipulated for elections. Why couldn't they also be manipulated to hide a money trail????

dems won't vote on FEC nominees, and then sue. Gotta love Howard. Please keep him in the news. I could make the commercial him screaming and hugging Obama. Two peaheads in a pod. We have Obama promising to go public financing, and then getting his dough from BILLIONAIRES in San Fran while he is bashing the "little" white guy. Can we dispense with the idea that Obama is running an above the fray campaign. His campaign is run by journalistts, and the news media is gullible and easily manipulated by a fellow journalist.

I love how all the democraps treat this as obviously breaking the law. That's what the DNC says. McCain and his camp disagree. I'm pretty sure that none of the democrapic sheep on this board know the answer for sure, but don't let that stop them from spewing foam at the mouth

The Dem's are so out! of touch with whats really going on!,I stopped watching the sit coms ,Now! I watchs the Demacrats ,There so much funnier ,Hillary and Fantasies ,Berack and his take on small town folks ,I can't wait to see what there going to say tommarrow ,Talk about out of touch ,

Financing of campaigns is a real, festering sore on the body politic. If there is tax money going to politicians to help them advertise themselves, then only tax money should be used. Otherwise, let the candidates accept money willy-nilly, record the donor identities, and publish *ALL* the names and amounts on a government website. It is strange that political campaigns depend mightily on television advertising to get "The Message" across. Are people too unwilling to put forth the effort to learn, independently, about the issues and the candidates' weasel-worded positions on the issues? Or does everything have to be boiled down for The People so they can mull over the latest gaffe and see for themselves, in 30 seconds, what a horrible mistake it would be to vote for Candidate X? (I take it that a nation that swoons over American Idol must have complex decisions made for them before the microwave signals that the popcorn is done.)

At this point, the Democrats are doing all of McCain's advertising for him, so he would win without a plug nickel. Every commercial for flush-with-Hollywood-cash Obama, and every story plugged by the media which paints a false halo on Obama, just pushes everyone I know into the McCain column. McCain should save his money for his re-election campaign.

Mc bush's religous mentor and spirtual guide Rod Parsley a far right religous fascist Has said over and over that Islam is a false Religion. Mc Bush is what religion. Esipcopailan,Baptist,Evangelical or what?
I guess what ever suites the monment.

All it takes to put this matter to rest is for the Democratic majority in Congress to solve the political logjam regarding FEC appointments. It's easier for them to appeal to the black robed kings and since that is the only way they can get their politically unpopular notions into law, it looks good.

Now they want to raise doubts about McCain to provide cover for Obama going back on his word about public financing for the general election.

Didn't we hear the Republican Mob screaming and waiving pitchforks insisting on "the Rule of Law" during the Clinton years? Heaven forbid they might be accused of partisan politics! McCain cashed the check, took the money and now wants to give it back, sorry, I didn't mean it. Well, it doesn't work for bank robbers and doesn't work hear. Obama's comments that he would be willing to discuss public financing is totally different.

This is pure grandstanding. If the Democratic party really wanted this resolved, Congress would nominate people to fill the four empty FEC positions. But the party is holding up those nominations on purpose, both to try and keep McCain's campaign in legal limbo and to give Obama's campaign some cover for backing out of his promise to accept public financing.

The Democratic party is perfectly happy with a non-functioning FEC. Intentionally hamstringing the FEC isn't politics as usual, it politics way-more-cynical-than-usual. I'm really disappointed with Obama for allowing this.

Repugs are NOT benefiting from the Democratic struggle to nominate a competent candidate who isn't a shallow, arrogant, platitude-spouting, plagiarizing gas-bag with the mantra "God Da'mn America". Rather, the Repugs are currently benefiting from the fact that most voters do not actually understand AMNESTY-JOHN.

The "character" of AMNESTY-JOHN can be summed up in one word: BETRAYAL.

1. Wife BETRAYAL. When his wife was injured in an auto accident resulting in a severe limp, AMNESTY-JOHN didn't hesitate to divorce her to marry-up into money. (His current wife is a multi-millionaire beer distributor who has refused to provide a single penny of her money to the AMNESTY-JOHN campaign, but her distribution warehouses reportedly employ dozens of illegals!)

2. Constituent BETRAYAL. AMNESTY-JOHN betrayed his constituents on many, many issues. Most notable is his total support for providing citizenship to illegal immigrants - an issue opposed by more than 70% of his constituents.

3. Party BETRAYAL. AMNESTY-JOHN is one of the few "Republicans" most likely to vote against or oppose the interests of his party. He's done it on taxes, spending, appointments, policy matters, social issues and on and on and on.

4. Country BETRAYAL. Several independent investigators have alleged that AMNESTY-JOHN betrayed both his country and fellow solders while a POW. They concluded that AMNESTY-JOHN provided military information to his captors in exchange for better food and medical treatment. AMNESTY-JOHN has made sure that such details of his military service will never be known since he used his senator-influence to have his military record PERMANENTLY SEALED FOREVER. Just what is AMNESTY-JOHN trying to hide?

If AMNESTY-JOHN is elected, the citizens of American will suffer intense "buyer's remorse" once he sets out on his own agenda - instead of the one American citizens want. Fortunately, once the true, disgusting character of AMNESTY-JOHN is known to the voters, they will run from this senile, ill-tempered, war monger faster than you can say IMPEACH DICKNBUSH.

Several, like his chief political advisor Charlie Black, are lobbyists for military-industrial contractors that have made a killing out of the Iraq war.

Why does McCain even need to be so much in hock to lobbyists? Why doesn't he finance his own campaign like Romney did?

He's every bit as rich as Romney, worth $250 million. He even has a private jet these days, so he doesn't need to borrow the jets of pals like Charles Keating and his Phoenix broadcasting chum whose name I forget.

But he can't stop trading favors, it's just in his blood. A classic machine politician whose favorite themes are fear and cheesy nationalism.

All three are globalist in mind-set.. Obama with Zwibneg Bresinski ( he wrote about "Between Two Worlds"). Just try to find the book and if you do sell it on Ebay for a cool $400-500 as it appears THEY want it out of circulation. McCain--can't add to his crookedness. What a facade of dignity and love for Christians. Hillary--OMG.. the Joyce Meyers of showtalk. Folks: Ladies and Gentlemen: Should you be a believer in any of the above you are a complete idiot.. uneducated too. Now, those that got a nerve hit, just elaborate on your self-fantasy of reality. www the radioavenger com